Although this eliminates the Bobcats from the Wiggins sweepstakes, I like it for both parties. The Bobcats are simply sick of losing; even in a league where it's rebuild or reload, I'll accept that as an excuse for gambling on a borderline all-star in Jefferson. Probably the craftiest and most skilled low post scorer in the game, one of the only C's with a really refined, throwback skill set in the paint, he will serve as an excellent mentor for you big men Zeller and Biyombo (Biyombo especially; he's already averaging 7.3 boards and 1.8 blocks at age 20, with a semblance of a post game he could fulfill his potential). If Kemba continues to improve and MKG makes the leap, they could be more disruptive than anyone thought when this past season ended.

Jefferson would not have gotten this much money anywhere else, he still gets to be the man, and while a playoff series victory will still elude him, he can opt out after two years when he's still only 30 and free to move to a contender, considering he'll have banked nearly $100M in his career.

At some point you can no longer tolerate losing. Your young guns cannot be perpetually demoralized as they grow in the NBA. Jefferson gets a lot of flack, but he's spent his career marooned on teams in rebuilding purgatory. Jefferson is one of only two centers to achieve a PER of 20+ in each of the last three seasons alongside Tim Duncan. Dwight Howard isn't even in that company. He can occasionally be a liability on D, but it's not so much his fault; he's slow-footed and plays below the rim, but is always game to bang in the paint and gives it his all night in and night out. He's one of the only players in the league who will give you 50% from the field and nearly 80% from the line and he turns the ball over at an almost historically low rate (1.3 in 33.1 mpg last season; as low as 1 TO in 34.1 mpg in '11-12).

This deal won't alter the course of history but I think it was a neat acquisition for Charlotte and a pretty much ideal landing spot for Big Al.

yo al is underrated. he averaged 20 and 10 in minnesota and played with guys who cant shoot consistently in utah, marvin williams and mo will was hurt a significant amount of time. he in my opinion and factually is one of the top 5 centers in the league behind dhoward, gasol bothers, and toss up with brook lopez and roy hibbert, deserved more money and longer years with a better team. how are so many players who are adept in more than athleticism relegated to the so many bad situations and belief in?just for this i hope bobcats make the playoffs, had belief in the wiz. they prob can still do it with improvements wall has made but this low level of interest in a top talent such as jefferson makes me go for the bobcats. MKG work on the jumpers!

Al Jefferson is a fine players but has never been a players to lead a team to the playoffs. Bobcats will definately have a shot at Wiggins if they get lucky enough that their pingpong ball is selected. Bobcats won't win more than 24 games.

Not sure why you would think they won't win more than 24 games considering they won 21 games last year. Zeller can contribute right away and all the other guys from last year now have another year of experience. Jefferson will probably put up 20 and 10 right away since the offense is most likely going to run through him a lot of the time. They are most definitely a better team now than last year.

I thought this would happen! A good fit for Charlotte although it remains to be seen who they'll relegate to the bench between their two young big men in Biyombo and Zeller. I still feel they should have gone with McLemore at #4. A starting lineup of Kemba Walker/Ben McLemore/MKG/Biyombo and Jefferson would have been pretty solid.

Makes Charlotte an immediate dark horse playoff contender in the East, which is already weak with the loss of Boston from the playoff picture. They were already primed to be a solid defensive team, and Jefferson gives them a massive dose of offense to go with it. Getting that 8 seed is certainly not out of the question. They still have some room to sign others and even more flexibility in 2014 and then more in 2015. They could easily add another top level FA to this team if they wanted to, and that would make them at least a threat to Miami and Chicago.

Pretty impressive for a team that everybody overlooked going into this offseason. If Charlotte does become a contender, there are going to be more than a few people eating crow about Jordan's skill as an owner. I'll be one of them.